Collar case



J. M. MAY.

COLLAR CASE.

APPLICATION FILED APR-26, 1920.

l 42, 9 6G8 D Patented Sept. 19, 1922..

'igji MMIKW yaw @Erazgzyg Patented Sept. 19, i922.

JOSEPH M. MAY, OF EAST MILTON,

-rar* are.

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BYAN-CUSHI'NG- 00., F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

COLLAR CASE.

Application filed April 26, 1920. Serial No. 376,496.

This invention relates to improvements in collar cases. Moreparticularly it is the object of the invention to provide a .devicewhich is suitable for use in carrying soft collars in a traveling bag.No device has thus far been invented, so far as I am aware, whichv issatisfactory for this purpose; as the round boxes commonly used forstiff starched collars do not give satisfaction unless the collarscontained are capable of freely slipping past-each other, which is nottrue of soft collars; while mere paper or cloth wrappers do not hold astock of collars in good shape. The objects of the invention are toprovide a package which shall enclose a supply of fresh laundered softcollars, and maintain them in clean and uncrunipled condition, that thepackage itself is in the midst of a jumble of other articles of'variousshapes, loose or tight, in a traveling bag; that it shall hold a varyingnumber, from which one or other is easily removable without disturbingthe remainder; and that it shall be itself expansible and contractableac cording to the number of collars contained, .so as not to take upmore space in the bag than the varying bulk of collars to be protectedshall require.

These objects are accomplished by the ex- "tremely simple device ofproviding a wrap- 410 per having a body portion and flaps, the bodyportion being adapted tounderlie a stack or stacks of the collars andextending integrally in four directions into the flaps which when foldedover it enclose said stack of collars on four sides and on top; coupledwith frictionally held bands which, in combination with the envelopingflaps, prevent the individual collars of a stack from so shiftingposition relative to each other 59 as to destroythe regularity of formof the notwithstanding stack. -The frictional means'thus provided mayconsist of bands of'woven fabric anchored to he said body portion of thestack and long enough to extend up, beside, over, and down beside thestack, toengaging '55 means by which the length of loop passing over thestack is limited, at will, according to the size of a compressed portionof the stack. Metallic devices being preferably avoided, the frictionalholding may consist of an arrangement bywhich the band descending fromthe top of the stack turns at substantially a right angle to pass underthe frictional engaging means, which is preferably of fabric having afriction producing surface. The tension around this right-angled cornerapplies the friction and holds the band from slipping; but when the bandis being fastened, or is to be loosened, the finger of the user canameliorate the rectangularity of the angle so that the band passes thefriction fastening only horizontally, in which case the friction is muchless. But when the band has been drawn tight, the elasticity of thestack of freshly laundered soft collars, compressed by the band,maintains the band tightly against said frictional holding, so that thestack and the band each hold the other, as

it were, With' the collars in pre-arranged array within the foldedflaps. One illustration of an embodiment of the invention is shown inthe accompanying drawings ;but

it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseform here shown; It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitableexpression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentablenovelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings; a Figure 1 is a plan view of the collarcase opened; Figure Q is a fragmentary end elevation in section througha case similar to that of Figure 1 but containing 'one stack of dif- 9ferent width, the section being as if close beside one of the bands letof Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a perspective showing the case closed.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a stack of soft collars whichare to be preserved in condition ready for wear by the device of theinvention. Said device comprises a wrapper preferably made of leather,cloth or other material which is stiff enough so that it tends toretainan uncruinpled sheet format-ion, although it should besufiiciently flexible, especially in its flaps, to bend closely aroundthe contents. It may, for example, be made of soft lcathenwith a silklining. This wrapper has a back portion 11 side flaps 12, andend flapsl3, and is, as a whole, preferably of such size and shape as will hold astack of soft collars each of which is folded lengthwise in the usualway, and is folded oncecross-wise at the middle of its back, being thussome nine or ten inches long. The back 11 may be wide enough to holdmore than one of such stacks, as illustrated. The bands 14, preferablytwo in number, are each secured to the back 11 by stitches or othersuitable means at different points along the length of the stack, insuch locations 15 that the stack can be placed close to their points offastening and the band can rise approximately perpendicularly beside thestack, from said back,

pass over the top of the stack, and descend substantiallyperpendicularly to the back, on its other side of the stack to a pointclose to the stack on that side. At the point of descent, close to theother side ofthe stack, is a frictional holdingdevice 16 around thenearer edge of which, and under which, the band 14: passes. If there isprovision for more than one stack. the band rises thence and passes overthe next stack likewise, its

, end being free beyond the last frictional fastening strap. This bandshould have sufficlent length to allow of its holding a stack or stacksof desired maximum size and yet to have a projecting end long enough tobe comfortably grasped and pulled. on the remote side of the lastfrictional holder. The frictional holder 16 may preferably be a simplestrap of material, whose ends are sewed down, lying flat upon the backbetween these ends, and having an under surface of such character as toco-operate with the top surface of the band by opposing the slipping ofthe band across that surf-ace whenthe band is pressed tightly againstit,

'yet such as to permit the easy slipping of the band when the pressurebetween those two surfaces is slight. Such an effect may, foiiexample,be attained by making both the band i l and the strap which composes thefrictional fastenii'ig 16 of grosgrain silk. Two pieces of this materialslip readily across each other when the pressure between them is slight,and slip only with considerably more difficulty when the pressure issomewhat increased.

The drawings illustrate apparatus for erovision for two such stackslO ofcollars,

Leas es .to its wear resisting exterior and interior lining. The latter11" may be grosgrain, thus co-operating with the bands in holding thestack. The flaps are relatively flexible for the first two or threeinches of their length as indicated at 17 which when in use will beupstanding beside the stacks and more or less bent over the top, and aremade relatively stiff by the insertion of-card-board as shown in theback 11 for the remaining four or five inches of their length, whichwhen in use lie upon the top of the stacks of (:OlldlS, with edgeslocated as indicated at 18. Furthermore, the portions-18 of the sideflaps 12 may preferably have pockets J9 made of the lining andcontaining cardboard to stiffen their-outside walls, these serving asreceptacles for collars that have been soiled by wear.

In use, a stack of fresh collars having been put in position with thebands 14 passing loosely over it, the user may place his finger againstthe outside of the band, close to the back 11 and ust where the bandcomes down to its frictional fastening 16; and then by pressinghorizontally toward the stack of collars may relieve pressure betweenthe band 14 and the strip 16 under which it passes; and may then pullthe'band tight, in the course of which the band slips easily around therounded and firm corner made by his finger. The loop of the band, whenthus 105 drawn, compresses the stack of collars; and the stack, reactingelastically, presses out-- ward on the loop of the band, and continuesto press thus when the users finger is removed. This pressure of thestack is ap- 110 plied by the band as a pull on the inner edge of the.strap 16, twists that strap a little and results in a static or holdingfriction which is sufficient under ordinary circumstances to prevent theband from slipping. Thusthe 11F,- staek is held. So long as-itstays-thus, the collars individually will be held securely in theirrelative positions in the stack because of the friction between them.The flaps being then folded over, the stiffened portions 12o of, the endflaps and of the side flaps consti tute struts which lie flat over thetop of the flap and transmit any pressure, to which the package may besubjected in either direction at its edges, instead .of allowing thatpres. 12': sure to be imposed directly on the stack within, as it wouldbe if the flaps merely constituted a flexible covering of negligiblestiffness. This effect is heightened by such contents as there may be ofsoiled collars in i .to the back,

eaaeos of the side flaps, which make stronger because more The outerpair of flaps the pockets those members even resistant to bending. areto be fastened by snap fasteners 20 or any other convenient rigid means,which makes the two side oppositely attached flaps into one, as it Were,with the result that the top of the package is not slazynothwithstanding the extreme flexibility of the two inches or so of softleather attaching each which constitute the vertical walls of thepackage, and which but for this rigid securing of the gether wouldpermit each flap of itself to twist when pushed endwise with respect tothe base' To remove a collar, the bands can be loosened by direct pullupon the loop, the friction holding at 16 being not sufficient toprevent this; or they may preferably be loosened by a reversal of theprocedure by which they were made tight; and after the removal of one ormore collars the smaller stack remaining is fastened with equal securityby the same simple method.

Although the device is herein described as it may be applied for holdingsoft collars, the same principle may be utilized in holding othercompressible strip-shaped objects. Moreover, although the device hasbeen herein described as used for holding stacks which aredefinitelycompressible, very simi-' lar efi'ects are observed where! thecompression' is not so obvious. The band being drawn tight around thestack, any tendency of the stackto move is resisted inthe first place bythe frictional covering of the base and in the next place, assuming thatto be overcome, it will be observed that the movement cannot take placewithout lengthening the bight of the band 14 between. the two straps 16or between the strap 16 and the fastening 15, and this cannot happenwithout pulling some of the band under one of the frictional holdingstraps 16, so that a similar result is attained. Any considerabledislocation is prevented by the fact that to accomplish it the stack hasto be pushed out over the fastening 15, which is prevented by theproximity of the folded up flap, or to be pushed in the other directionover the strap 16 which bends the band at such a sharp acute angle thatthe resistance is greatly increased and. when there are two bands, oneat each end as illustrated, it is sufficient for all ordinarycircumstances, even when the flaps lie unfolded. It is found in practicethat the presence of a stack in the compartment nearer the end of thebands adds sufficient friction so that anything contained in 3 thecompartment nearer the fastening 15 is practically immovable; and if, asindicated in Figure 2, the stack free end of the band be fully as broadas the space between the straps 16, or even sometwo opposite flaps to-.

of collars nearer the.

what wider, the friction caused by the sharp turn around the edge ofeach strap 16 is much enhanced and holds the stack very firmly. In thiscase, the loosening of the band, to relieve the stack, is effected bypushing ones finger into the base of the stack itself, incidentallylifting that side of the stack a little; or, of course, it may beeffected by a simple pull powerful enough to overcome the friction.

I claim as my invention:-

1. A travelers case comprising a stiff base whereon a resilient stack ofcloth articles may rest, combined with a band, secured to the said baseand passing over the top of the stack and down approximatelyperpendicularly to the base beyond the stack; nonmetallic frictionalengaging means under which the band next passes, adapted to hold theband against an upward pull thereon and to let the band slip readily 'ona pull approximately in parallelism with the sur-- face ofsaid base; andflaps attached to the edges of the stiff base and adapted to fold overit to encase and protect said stack and band, means tained wholly withinis closed.

being of textile fabric and being conthe case when the case 2. 1}travelers case comprising a stiff base having a frictional surfacewhereon a res1l1- ent stack of cloth articles may rest and be held byfriction combined with a frictional band, secured to the base andpassing over the top of the stack and down approximately perpendicularlyto the base beyond the stack; and flat non-metallic strips havingfrictional under surfaces under which the band next passes, close to theedge of the stack, having suflicient flexibility to twist slightly whenpulled by the band so arranged and so to. hold it frictionally.

3. A travelers case comprising a stiff base having a ent stack of clotharticles may rest and be held by friction combined with a band, se-

cured to the base passing over the top of the stack and secured to thebase beyond the stack, and means so securing it; and encasing meansincluding said base made rectangular and-of stiff material, and includinflaps extending from the four edges of sai base with flexible portionsclose to the base, and stiff portions remote therefrom substantiallyequal in breadth to the length of side of the base from which theyextend; one pair of opposite flaps having pockets adapted to receivestrip-form articles, whereby the articles so contained add to thestiffness of the cover.

4. A case for resilient strip-form articles, comprising a stiff fiatbase having a frictional surface adapted to engage the base of a stackof such articles, a band having fricsaid band and frictional engagingfrictional surface whereon a resil1- tional under and upper surfaces,fast at one is drawn taut; and flaps extending from the end to said baseand adapted to pass over edges of the base and adapted to enclose thethe stack, and n0n-meta11ic means having a stack and band.

frictional under surface, under which the Signed at BostonMassachusetts, this 20th 5 band passes after passing over the stack; dayof April 1920.

the whole being organized to hold a stackin place on the base byfriction when the band J OSEIH M. MAY.

